Chongqing- Chongqing has made great progress in establishing a public service list system under the national action plan of the 13^th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020)  to further equalize access to basic public services, according to a press briefing of the Chongqing Development and Reform Commission on Wednesday. These public services cover the eight areas of education, employment, social security, health care, social service, housing, sports and recreation, and special care for the disabled.

Chongqing implemented a total of 86 public service programs, including the 81 programs specified in the action plan and five more new programs initiated by the municipal government. “Certain public service programs have outperformed the national standards and reached a much larger population than required,” said Li Hui, deputy division chief of social affairs at the Chongqing Development and Reform Commission.

For the past five years, the city’s general public service budget has kept an average annual growth of nearly 11%, with pre-school education, compulsory education resources further optimized, and more equally distributed among urban and rural students. As of 2019, on-campus students of public kindergartens reached 41% of total enrolled students. The coverage rate of township and town-level kindergartens reached 93.7%, effectively tackling kindergartens' cost and accessibility problems.

Since the commencement of the 13^th Five-Year Plan, a total of 2.97 million jobs have been created for urban and rural residents. The number is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of 2020, with 50,000 times of vocational skill training sessions to be provided to the city’s migrant workers and peasants. By developing specialty industries and rural tourism, the city has helped a total of 675,400 villagers shake off poverty and increase income.

Chongqing now boasts a 95% citywide social security participation rate, including the old-age pensions and medical insurance for urban and rural residents. The reimbursement rate of urban residents’ medical expenses at designated hospitals is currently stable at 83%. In comparison, the reimbursement rate of urban residents’ medical expenses at hospitals below class II is stable at 75%. A total of 745 the city’s medical institutions are now connected to the national expense settlement platform.

Near the end of the press briefing, Li elaborated on the city’s achievements in the other five categories: basic health care, basic social services, basic housing support, basic sports, recreational facilities, and basic public services for the disabled.